Law: Suicide Payoff

It was the kind of case whose outcome seemed to justify Mr. Bumble's
judgment that "the law is a ass." A man who jumped in front
of a subway train in an attempt to kill himself sued the local transit
authorityand won a $650,000 settlement. Only in New York, a smug
outlander might be tempted to say. In theory, though, it could have
occurred in most states, a dumbfounding example of how a needed legal
reform can be pushed to the edge of irrationality.